The Stroller: 'Let me ask'

Saturday

Mar 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Jerry Wofford of Spartanburg wasn't amused by Otis Owens' comment that people opposed to prayer in public places should pack their bags and leave the U.S. "Well, Mr. Owens, I came from the United States. I earned my right to be here by service to my country, and I don't like your idea that my religion — whatever it might be is none of your business — is not proper," says Mr. Wofford.

By Lou Parrisstroller@shj.com

Jerry Wofford of Spartanburg wasn't amused by Otis Owens' comment that people opposed to prayer in public places should pack their bags and leave the U.S. “Well, Mr. Owens, I came from the United States. I earned my right to be here by service to my country, and I don't like your idea that my religion — whatever it might be is none of your business — is not proper,” says Mr. Wofford. “The United States I came from has a Constitution that guarantees all our rights to our own religion and prevents you and those like you from forcing yours down others' throats. So, Mr. Owens, I will not pack my bags and leave. Let me ask, what have you done for your country? If the answer is nothing, why don't you pack your bags and leave?”

‘RUINED ALL IT TOUCHES': Jim Brooks of Roebuck says the questions asked by Larry Cooper have no short answer but that if his inquiry is sincere the place to go for answers is the New Testament. “Study it for six months,” suggests Mr. Brooks. “As to ‘judging,' go to the source, not what others repeat: Luke, 6:44; Matthew, 7:17-20, 12:34-37 and 15:19-20; John 3:5-6 and 7:24; and I Timothy, 5:20. As to ‘immigrants,' law-abiding legal immigrants are welcomed! The wish for them is work hard, provide for your family, raise your children in a free country full of opportunity, contribute to society, and enjoy your American Dream to the fullest! Illegal entry, however, demonstrates their attitude for the laws and people of the host nation. Their needs they feel are greater than the rights of legal Americans. As to ‘guns,' in my lifetime I have owned 30 or 40. They never killed or maimed anyone. What a drunk, drug addict or deranged mind may do is another subject and proves the point that a gun hurts no one, only the one holding it. When I was a kid, we took them to school for hunting afterward. After hunting, they were carried into public and private buildings as hunters enjoyed Cokes, etc. They never raised an eyebrow. It was a harmless part of the culture. Frankly, it was then a Christian nation. Since Washington has taken God out of school and government, there is no internal guide for the nation. External laws regulate few. If those who claim an interest in saving innocent lives are sincere, why not tackle those areas that kill the most innocents: cars, drugs, alcohol or legal abortion? As to ‘education' in South Carolina, it should be funded and directed from Columbia in cooperation with local school boards. Washington should have no participation in local education. It has pretty well already ruined all it touches.”

‘IT TAKES A LOWLIFE': Barbara Elliott's heart aches every time she reads that someone has disrespected a police officer. “Whenever a police officer is hurt or gets shot, it hurts me very badly,” she says. “It takes a lowlife to spit in the face of a police officer. I have many friends on the force, and if one of them got shot or killed, I think part of my heart would die. Some of these guys hung out at my house when my son was in high school, and they are still good friends.”

ODDS AND ENDS: Ladies Auxiliary members at the Woodruff Shrine Club are cooking up a terrific meal for lunch Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. On the menu are chicken, baked ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn, cake, rolls and tea or coffee. Folks, you get it all for seven bucks; $3 for children.

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